Barefoot, wrapped in the hotel bathrobe, they held hands and walked through the restaurant to the elevator. All eyes were on them, the smiles on the employees faces said many things. They didn’t care, they were quiet in the elevator, water dripped from their hair.
She unlocked the internal lift from the inside her bedroom and studied how it worked.
“I’ll be back,” he said entering the box. He was getting his clothes and to check on some messages he told his employees to leave in his room.
He stumbled into a brown envelope on his desk. “Private and Confidential” the label read. There was a stamp from Eduard’s office on the corner of the envelope. He quickly opened it. It was a copy of the finalized divorce papers, it was done, and a USB fell out of the envelope. He considered it for a few seconds and fired up his laptop.
“For your consideration” a note appeared on the screen when he opened the USB. He saw thumbnails of videos in the folder of what looked like naked people. He furrowed his eyebrows and clicked one of them.
A younger version of Jamie, without a single thread covering her skin. Two large male hands fondled her naked breasts and slid up to her throat, gently pressing around it and dipped a finger into her mouth. “Eddie … please … fuck me baby,” she pleaded.
Gabriel slammed shut his laptop, there are things you can’t unsee.
But the sound was still playing, her sighs and his groans, he had to re-open the laptop and turned it off. “Fuck!!”
There was another note. “If you’re thinking about fucking my wife, remember this, she’s still begging for my dick in my head … enjoy.”
“Fucking asshole!” he unplugged the USB.
When he returned to Jamie’s room, he was a different man. His face was tense, he was distant, he pulled himself a million steps backward.
Jamie sensed something was wrong, “What’s the matter?” unaware he was looking at her under a whole different light now.
“There was a package from Eduard,” his voice was low.
“Oh … what is it?”
“Your divorce is finalized … it’s done,” he said in a monotone.
“That’s great news!” she exhaled, “I’m so relieved … wow … I never thought I’d feel this liberated, like a heavy burden lifted from my shoulders,” her face was beaming.
He curved a smile, not the least bit excited.
“What is it? Is there something else? You said package?”
He took out the USB and handed it to her.
She was puzzled at first. The look on his face sent goosebumps all over her body. “What’s this?” her voice cracked.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
They looked at each other, she knew instantly.
“Did you look at it?” she asked.
“I didn’t know what was in it,” he evaded her stare.
She covered her face, “God damn it!” she sat on the edge of the bed to calm her nerves, she squeezed the USB in her hand. She shook her head, couldn’t believe it was happening to her. “He was my husband, we were happily married when we did that.”
“You don’t have to explain,” he stood right in front of her. “How many of those did you make?”
She tried to remember, “Ten … a dozen … I think thereabout …”
“There were 12 in the USB … are you sure that’s everything?”
She held her head, “Yeah … I think so.”
“I’ll take care of it,” he bent over to kiss her head. He lowered himself to meet her gaze. “Don’t worry about it,” he patted her hands that were on her lap and stood back up.
Neither of them were thinking of sex anymore. Gabriel excused himself to go back to his suite. It was best for the both of them.
One chapter of her life was finally over, another one has yet to begin. Even so, Eddie had refused to let go of her completely by reminding her of the videos that were still in his possession. It was his way of keeping her under his control, his way of staying in her head. Whether she liked it or not, Eddie had managed to prevent her from rekindling her relationship with Gabriel that day. With the looks of it, he might have damaged that opportunity more severely than she thought.
She couldn’t bear to see what’s in the USB, she lived it, it was in the past, she had no intention to go back there. Not even for one second. She poured a glass of whiskey and submerged the USB in it. In her mind, she was burning who she was when she was with Eddie.
She had grown so much since then, she wouldn’t be who she was if she didn’t go through that phase with Eddie. But that was over and done with. Once again, her pregnancy hormones took over her and she cried the ugly cry.